Preparation

1. Arrange the racks in upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat the oven to 375°F. Get out 2 large cookie sheets and line with parchment paper. Place some white sugar sprinkles in a small bowl.

2. Prepare dough: Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the vanilla, baking soda and salt and beat at medium speed until incorporated. Add the egg and beat until incorporated. Add the flours and mix at low speed until blended, scraping down the bowl once or twice.

3. Scoop up enough dough to form into a 1-inch ball, rolling between the palms until smooth. Roll the dough ball in sugar sprinkles and then place on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat, arranging a dozen coated dough balls evenly spaced on each sheet and then, using a drinking glass, press on dough balls to flatten to about 1/4 inch thick.

4. Bake cookies about 12 minutes, switching and rotating the pans half way through, until cookies are golden and somewhat firm to the touch. Transfer cookies with a metal spatula to racks and let cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough.

Cooks' Note:

You can use chocolate "jimmies" or other sprinkles for coating the cookies before baking. The sugar comes in colors, but we prefer not to use artificial coloring. Coarse sugar sprinkles are available in specialty stores; we like them better than the kind you can typically get at the supermarket. Indiantree.com offers sugar sprinkles that are dyed with vegetable juicesthe pink, orange and yellow are particularly pretty.
Sugar Cookie Cut-outs: Divide the dough in half, wrap in waxed paper and chill for at least 1 hour. Lightly flour a work surface and then roll out one pieces of dough to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut out cookies with cookie cutters. Transfer cookies with a metal spatula to baking sheets and chill for 10 minutes. Bake cookies about 15 minutes, let cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes and then transfer to racks.

I have made these cookies ten or more times and this recipe is perfect as it is. I don't know why some people gave it 2 forks with a positive review but it seems that they prefer softer cookies, and that's just a preference. I think they may have overcooked the cookies as well. I always take them out before the edges are visibly darker and my cookies come out just soft enough that they don't "crunch" on the inside. I sometimes add cinnamon to the dough and dust some on top with sugar.

I sucked it up and
tried making the
cookies again, and
found some
adjustments that
made an
easier-to-handle
dough and softer
cookie. Cooling the
dough in the
refrigerator for an
hour helped
<i><b>immensely</i></b>
with the stickiness
problem. If you're
in between batches
in the oven, I
suggest placing the
dough in the
refrigerator during
that time also to prevent
sticking in the
later batches.
Instead of rolling
the cookies in the
sugar and then
pressing them, I
pressed the cookies
then added the
sugar... I'm not
sure it makes a huge
difference, but I
found it a quicker
easier process and
maybe slightly more
healthy with less
sugar? I
also adjusted the
temperature on the
oven to 365 and
cooked for 9
minutes--the cookies
were still a little
crispy when they
cooled, but much
better. Next time
I'll probably add a
tad more butter and
cook for 8 minutes
for a softer end
product.

To preface, I've never made sugar cookies before. I really like them, but I like them to be soft, and these ended up crispy (I know, cook them for less time, but it's too late for that now. I'm also not sure that cooking for less time would solve that problem, I feel like they might just be undercooked). Like other reviewers, I also found the dough to be WAY too sticky, and nowhere does the recipe indicate that for the normal/ball method, should one refrigerate the dough. The texture, the whole wheat, the ease, everything else was great. I just prefer a softer cookie, and thought the process of forming the cookies was cumbersome because of the stickiness of the dough.

I made this recipe two different ways about a week ago or so. I followed the recipe exactly but exchanged one of the tsps of Vanilla with a Rum extract for a little more complexity.
The first batch I rolled out after it had chilled between two large pieces of wax paper and used it with Christmas cut-outs for decorating later.
The second batch I made as the recipe calls and rolled little balls. However, instead of sugar sprinkles I mixed cinnamon and sugar and dipped them into that mixture right before baking.
Both were delicious but I prefer the second preparation a bit more. I'm making them again today for a Christmas party I'm having later. Great recipe and smells AMAZING when it's baking!
For those that claim the dough is too sticky, if you chill it properly before baking (as you are supposed to with almost all cookie dough recipes) you shouldn't have an issue.

These cookies were pretty easy to make. The dough was sticky, yet easy to handle. I did not press them. Baked them in ball shape and they came out beautifully. The problem is that they turned out to be pretty bland. I decided that I don't like egg white in cookies. I know it makes them light and airy but also gives them an unpleasent smell, despite the generous amount of vanila extract. Next time I will try without the egg whites.

Delicious cookies! This was an easy recipe. I admit I failed to have white wheat on hand and used only all-purpose flour. It was not at all sticky, and the resulting cookies are delish! My kids love them.

I think this is a lovely, easy recipe! It's fun for the kids to roll the balls and decorate the cookies. Also, doubles as a "butter" cookie if you don't roll in sugar. I mixed whole wheat pastry flour and regular all purpose flour. I had no issues with the dough, sticky or otherwise.

I really love the texture that the whole wheat gives these cookies, which is why I worked at this recipe until I got a good result. The biggest hurtle is that they're fairly dry. I added an extra half stick of butter on my last batch, and that seemed to be the best amount (for drop cookies). I also baked them at 360 and took them out before they were done, letting them firm up outside the oven. When I bake from online recipes I usually halve the sugar, but you'll need the full amount with these cookies. Overall, the texture of the whole wheat makes these worthwhile.

My granddaughter, who is 9, and I have made a number of different sugar cookie recipes. We found this dough to be easy to handle, tender, and quite tasty. We floured our hands so the balls would be easy to roll. We will use this dough to make rolled out & cut Christmas cookies soon.